Upper Iowa men's basketball returned to their winning ways this evening as they defeated No. 21 Northern State 84-78 to conclude the Small College Basketball Champions Classic. The win propelled the Peacocks to 2-2 on the season.
 
Jake Hilmer and Nick Reid were both named to the SCB Champions Classic team for their efforts over the last two games. 
 
The Peacocks led 41-38 at halftime as they continued to entertain a back-and-forth battle with the Wolves until seven minutes remained in the contest, where they gained a lead that they did not relinquish. Their advantage was fueled by a 12-3 run from UIU, stemming from two buckets by Noah King and Kyle Hrncir, along with four made free throws from Hilmer to lead 73-69. 
 
Both teams went on to trade buckets until the Peacocks strung together their last 6-0 push with baskets from Hilmer, Reid and two free throws from King to get ahead 83-75. 
 
NSU's Josh Dilling nailed a three-pointer and Hilmer sank one from the charity stripe to seal the final 84-78 decision in favor of UIU. 
 
Reid led Upper Iowa in scoring as he netted 20 points on 7-13 from the floor and 3-7 beyond the arc, while also hauling in a team-high 15 rebounds. 
 
King contributed 19 points going 8-17 from the floor while Hilmer tallied 16 points on 4-11 from the field, including 8-9 from the charity stripe. 
 
Hrncir converted clutch baskets as he went 6-8 from the field. '
 
Jackson Moni paced Northern State and led all scorers with 29 points, going 8-19 from the floor and 10-11 from the foul line. 
 
As a unit, the Peacocks went 30-66 (45.5%) from the field, 9-28 (32.1%) from long distance and 15-20 from the charity stripe. In comparison, the Wolves shot 43.1% from the floor, 34.6% beyond the arc and 86.7% from the foul line. 
 
Upper Iowa travels to St. Paul, Minn. next weekend for two more non-conference contests. They take on Southwest Minnesota State on Friday at 4 p.m. and Concordia, St. Paul on Saturday at 4 p.m.